Tony Award-winning director Danya Taymor looks back on growing up in Palo Alto

Often, the seeds of professional glory are sowed during childhood. That’s true in the case of Danya Taymor, who reaped a huge accolade this year in the form of a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for “The Outsiders,” an adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s novel first published in the 1960s. 

“A musical is perhaps the most collaborative art form I’ve ever been a part of, so what was really meaningful was how many nominations the show got,” said the Brooklyn-based Taymor in an interview with this publication. The show got 12 nominations across disciplines including acting, design, writing, composing and choreography — and won four Tonys. “As the director, it’s my job to unite all these different aspects toward one shared vision … it was beyond my wildest dreams to actually win.” 

In addition to Taymor’s directing nod, the show also won the Tony for Best Musical, as well as awards for Lighting Design and Sound Design.

Taymor grew up in Palo Alto till she moved in 2006 for college. Her love story with theater began early; the first time she auditioned was at 6, for Palo Alto Children’s Theatre.

“I was in the chorus and experienced being with all kinds of kids of different ages  — when you’re 6, 15-year-olds are grown up! — that intergenerational aspect of theater has always been something that feels very special,” she said, tying it back to her present-day experiences. “The lighting designer who worked on ‘The Outsiders’ is in his 60s and the costume designer is in her early 30s and many of the actors are in their early 20s, so there’s this incredible mix of people who are at different moments in their life all working toward making something together … when I think back to those first experiences of walking downtown in-between shows at the Children’s Theatre, it was that same feeling of community.”

In large part she attributes her being in professional theater to the early influence of Kristen Lo, her theater teacher at Palo Alto High School, where she continued discovering different aspects of the stage. Lo now teaches at Gunn High School.

Among other things it was Lo’s respect for all the different elements of theater that struck Taymor as special.

“She created these festivals for us to not just act in but to write, direct, stage manage, build the sets — she had a real ethos that every single person who puts their hands on something in the theater is as important and necessary as the other. She is somebody who really inspired me and helped me find my love for directing,” she said.

Taymor fondly recalls the time Lo let her and her friends put on Patrick Marber’s “Closer,” a play about love and deceit, despite its clearly grown-up theme.

“She let us take risks,” she said, recounting the way Lo let her students have a real say in the work. “It caused a stir but I remember feeling really empowered that Kristen let us do something like that. It was a big deal.”

The first time she directed a play was on the Paly stage, during a festival called “Speed Limit 25,” in which all the plays had to be created by people under the age of 25.

“I remember I directed a one-act from a book that she’d given us. I loved the feeling of directing … it was a two-person play about teenagers on a roof falling in love,” she said. “It was really an inspiring time and an amazing community of people.”

It was through experiences like these that Taymor discovered that she was more comfortable directing than acting. “I think those environments at the Children’s Theatre and doing theater at Paly with Kristen were really formative in making me want to do this,” she said.

Among people who’ve inspired her is her aunt and Broadway director Julie Taymor, best known for directing the stage musical “The Lion King.”

“One thing that she taught me that really stayed with me is to not allow people to put you in a box; she started out as a designer and was also directing,” she said. “People want you to do the thing that you’ve done right before. The best advice she gave was to continue to follow your passion. She has so many different talents inside of theater and inside of film and that’s been really inspiring to watch.”

Taymor’s parents are doctors in Palo Alto — her father’s a pediatrician and her mother’s a psychiatrist. That’s probably why she harbors a strong interest in public health.

“I do feel like theater can be a tool for public health; there’s healing involved in doing and seeing certain types of theater,” she said. 

Understandably, her family is elated about her recent achievements.

“Danya made us very proud of her and very happy for her success and creativity, she brought honor to herself and to our family not only for winning the Tony for Best Director of an Original Musical but for being who she is,” said her mother Rosalinda Taymor in an email, adding that her daughter’s artistic inclinations were evident early on and that she displayed an affinity for different forms of art, like performance and singing, during childhood. “From a very young age she was identified by teachers and peers as a team player and someone you can count on … She has always been an inspiration to me.”

For Taymor, the days following the heady experience of directing an award-winning musical are all about resting, recuperating and staying creatively inspired. She’s doing this by going to plays, listening to music and reading. Among her recent favorites are fiction novels “Matrix” by Lauren Groff and “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck; “Shining City,” a play by Conor McPherson; and June Jordan’s poetry.

“I love words; I think words and language drive me the most as a director,” she said. “Which is why I think I’m so impressed with the book ‘The Outsiders.’ It was written by a teenager. The way those sentences are structured is raw and real and true.”

In the coming months, the production will tour the country and eventually a high school version of the show will become available.

“I hope Paly will do it, that’ll be like a dream come true,” she said.

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